He had heard plenty of trash talk last year, but being put down by Jets cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie resonated with Giants receiver Victor Cruz like nothing else.
In his upcoming memoir, “Victor Cruz: Out of the Blue,” which comes out on July 17, the receiver details how Revis and Cromartie’s insults affected him heading into the teams’ showdown on Dec. 24.Â
Revis had said he didn’t know who Cruz was, while Cromartie had ripped Mario Manninghamfor losing his starting job to “a guy named Victor Cruz.”
“I was one of the NFL’s leaders in receiving yards, a local guy playing in the New York market, and making big fourth-quarter plays every week,” Cruz writes in the book. “And yet these guys — Revis and Cromartie — still didn’t seem to think I belonged. They still saw me as an outsider, or worse, someone whose name wasn’t on their radars.
“I’d have to make them remember me.”
The trash talk between the Giants’ receivers and the Jets’ cornerbacks was a huge storyline heading into their Christmas Eve showdown. Cruz even participated in the action, saying that teams weren’t really as scared to throw at Revis anymore, compared to the past when teams never threw at the All-Pro.
In the book, he details how during the game, Cromartie continued the trash talk with discouraging remarks about the Giants’ receiver.
“I was looking at Cro and he was telling me that he’s never heard of me, telling me that I wasn’t worthy of lining up across from him,” Cruz writes. “He was just talking before, during, and after every play from scrimmage, and I was just silent. ”
Ultimately, Cruz had the final laugh, as he scored on a 99-yard touchdown that changed the game — and perhaps the Giants’ season. He gave the Giants a 10-7 lead right before halftime and the Giants went on to win the contest.
After the game, Cruz ran into Revis at a restaurant in New York’s Meatpacking District and he praised the Giants’ young receiver.
“‘We know who you are, Cruz,’ he said as he leaned in toward me,” Cruz writes. “‘Good game today. You played well.’
“I was home by eleven in bed on Christmas Eve with my pregnant girlfriend cuddled up next to me.
“And Darrelle Revis knew who I was, after all.
“Life was good.”
SIX FLAGS DALLAS:Â Cruz has a unique description of Cowboys Stadium.
“We’d fought too hard and played too well for our season to end in that giant Six Flags amusement park that night,” Cruz writes about the Giants’ game in Dallas on Dec. 11.
Cruz grew up as a Cowboys fan, which led to his strong dislike for the Giants during his younger years.
“When they beat the Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Round of the 2007 playoffs, I threw the TV remote control across our living room onto East Eighteenth Street,” Cruz writes.
“I hated the Giants.”
That allegiance to Dallas also led to Cruz not being so hot about quarterback Eli Manning back in the day.
“Because of my Dallas Cowboys allegiances growing up, I was never much of an Eli fan,” Cruz writes. “Troy Aikman was my favorite quarterback as a kid, and when Tony Romo took over as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback in the middle of 2006 season, I became a Romo guy.”
WRITTEN BY Matt Ehalt | ESPNNewYork.com & FULL STORY HERE
